Tag Archive for: Short Track World Tour

The penultimate stop of the ISU Short Track World Tour in Tilburg, The Netherlands this weekend saw the Irish Wolfhounds move into new territory.

Qualification Day began with the 500m preliminaries. In Heat 1, Sean McAnuff fought hard throughout the race to cross the line in third in a time of 42.264 which was enough to put him through to the next round as just one of two fastest finishers. Liam O’Brien drew Heat 9 and raced hard ultimately having to settle for fourth place in a time of 42.804. In the 1000m prelimaries, McAnuff was again the first of the Wolfhounds in action in Heat 7. He was in contention for most of the race before finishing in fourth with a time of 1:30.852. O’Brien was up immediately after in Heat 8 and was holding his own until he had an unfortunate trip with four laps to go and placed fifth. The afternoon session began with the 1500m quarterfinals. In a highly competitive and swift Heat 1 O’Brien raced to a new season best time of 2:16.692 which left him in fifth place. For the 500m heats, McAnuff found himself in Heat 8 which turned out to be a dramatic and exciting affair. While others around him lost their heads, he kept his cool and was rewarded with first place in a time of 42.780 and spot in the quarterfinals the following day.

O’Brien was the first of Irish Wolfhounds to race on the second day of the competition in Heat 6 of the 1500m repechage quarterfinals. It was a cagey race and with five laps to go O’Brien crashed out to come fifth and 51st overall for the distance. His next shot was the 500m repechage quarterfinals to see if he could join McAnuff in the afternoon’s quarterfinals. The race had to be stopped and restarted twice due to collisions on the first corner. When the heat did get under way at the third time of asking, O’Brien slotted into third and remained there until the end in a time of 42.573 narrowly off his season best for 39th place in the overall distance classification. In his only race of the day, McAnuff was the first Irish Wolfhound this season to advance to a World Tour main session and the history making did not end there. In a high paced Heat 1, McAnuff gave it everything he had and came fifth with a new Irish record of 41.989, the first Irish skater to break 42 seconds for the 500m. He finished 16th in the distance.

The Irish Wolfhounds took on the 1000m repechage on the final day of the competition. O’Brien got things started for the Irish in Heat 2 of the repechage quarterfinals and returned home fifth in a time of 1:28.755 for 49th place overall in the distance. McAnuff appeared in Heat 5 and finished third in a time of 1:28.932 giving him a distance classification of 38th.

“I am very proud of this my racing this weekend in Tilburg,” McAnuff said. “I skated confidently in every race and kept skating until well over the line. It definitely paid off and I am pleased with my new 500m personal best time as well as a 16th overall finish in the 500m. I was able to put to the test my defence capabilities this weekend. This was significant to me as it was a prominent weakness I identified over the course of the season thus far and I have worked hard to improve it.”

There is no rest for the Irish Wolfhounds as they are back on the ice for the final stage of the ISU Short Track World Tour next weekend in Milan, Italy which will also serve as the test event for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games.

The Irish Wolfhounds ended their racing for 2024 at the  stage fourth stage of this season’s ISU Short Track World Tour in Seoul, South Korea this weekend.

As always Sean McAnuff (Co. Antrim) and Liam O’Brien (Co. Cavan) began on the opening day with qualification rounds in all three distances. The Wolfhounds were drawn in back-to-back heats in the 1500m heats. O’Brien came home fifth in Heat 6 with a time of 2:27.019, while McAnuff was also fifth in Heat 7 in a time of 2:23.526.

In the 500m preliminaries, McAnuff raced superbly in Heat 4 to clinch second place in a time of 42.555 and advance to the heats later in the day. O’Brien contested Heat 7 and was fourth in a time of 42.984. For the 500m heats, McAnuff found himself in a swift Heat 4 and finished fifth with a time of 42.232.

Last up were the 1000m preliminaries and O’Brien was first of the Irish up in Heat 2. He closed out his account for the qualifiers with a fourth place and a time of 1:30.259. McAnuff showed up in Heat 10 and narrowly missed out on advancing again as he came third in a time of 1:32.518.

The Irish Wolfhounds took on the 1500m and 500m repechages on the second day of the event. In Heat 4 of the 1500m repechage quarterfinals, O’Brien was positive from the start as he vied for the lead on the first seven laps. After contact with another skater, O’Brien lost momentum and initially crossed the line at the end in seventh with a time of 2:32.141. The skater who had made contact with O’Brien was penalised and O’Brien advanced to the 1500m repechage semifinals. McAnuff came 5th in a time of 2:29.495 in Heat 6. O’Brien wound up in a cagey affair in 1500m repechages semifinals Heat 2 and finished sixth with a time of 2:44.018.

It was then on to the 500m repechage quarterfinals for the Irish Wolfhounds. McAnuff smashed the Irish record in Heat 2 lowering it to 42.126 and earning him second place. O’Brien was fifth in Heat 6 with a time of 43.160.

The Irish Wolfhounds were back on the last day of competition for the 1000m repechages. In repechage quarterfinal Heat 1, McAnuff rounded out his competition with a fifth place in a time of 1:29.624. O’Brien tied things up for Team Ireland with a third place in Heat 7 clocking a time of 1:27.844.

“This was the final competition of 2024 and I am happy with my results,” McAnuff said. “I broke my personal best time as I skated to a new Irish record in the 500m distance. I felt very motivated by how competitive I was able to be in my races. Going into 2025, I am going to be focusing on improving my ability to defend my position while racing.”

“I felt a lot better this weekend about my racing overall,” O’Brien said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have a great first day and that makes it harder going through the repechages. But I am happy with the way I batted through the races. I’ll take this approach to racing into the new calendar year and build on my confidence alongside it.

The ISU Short Track World Tour takes a pause until February when it concludes with stops in Tilburg, The Netherlands (7-9 February) and Milan, Italy (14-16 February).

The Irish Wolfhounds had a mixed bag of results at the third stage of this season’s ISU Short Track World Tour in Beijing, China this weekend.

In the qualification rounds on the opening day of the event, Sean McAnuff (Co. Antrim) and Liam O’Brien (Co. Cavan) raced in all three distances. O’Brien was first of the Irish skaters on the track in Heat 3 of the 1500m. He managed to stay ahead of a pile up that took a number of skaters out, but on the third last lap he collided with another skater and crashed into the barriers. He got back to complete the race in a time of  3:07.018 for fourth place. McAnuff was also right in contention in Heat 5 when going into the third last lap he slipped off course. He returned home in a time of 2:51.713 to come fifth.

The Irish were drawn in back to back heats of the 500m preliminaries. McAnuff got the ball rolling in Heat 4. In a swift race, he finished fifth in a new personal best of 42.183. O’Brien arrived on the ice immediately after in Heat 5 and was fourth in a time of 43.464.

The Wolfhounds faced the 1000m preliminaries to end qualification day and O’Brien found himself in Heat 2. He finished in fourth place with a time of 1:27.337. McAnuff lined up in Heat 4 and came fourth with a time of 1:26.505.

The Irish skaters took on the 1500m and 500m repechages on the second day of the event. In Heat 3 of the 1500m repechage quarterfinals, O’Brien narrowly missed out on advancing when crossed the line in third place with a time of 2:25.159. McAnuff was up right after in Heat 4 and he finished fourth in a time of 2:21.095. It was then on to the 500m repechage quarterfinals for O’Brien. He was on the back foot from the start in Heat 6 and never got into contention. He had to settle for fourth in a time of 44.715.

McAnuff and O’Brien were back on the last day of competition for the 1000m repechage quarterfinals. In Heat 4, McAnuff took fifth place with a time of 1:28.592. O’Brien followed in Heat 5 and he wrapped up Ireland’s account with a fourth place in a time of 1:28.620.

“The racing didn’t go as I had planned and there’s still a lot of work to go,” O’Brien said. “I am happy with the experience I gained this week and am ready to use it all to get a better result next week.”

“I was very proud to achieve my goal of a new personal best time, which ended up being in the 500m,” McAnuff said. “I had some races I was proud of and also some that revealed areas I need to improve, primarily in my racing strategy. I am holding my head high and am very excited to head to Seoul, South Korea for the fourth stop of the World Tour this week.”

The Irish Wolfhounds rounded out the second stage of this season’s ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal, Canada this weekend.

In the qualification rounds on the opening day of the event, Sean McAnuff (Co. Antrim) and Liam O’Brien (Co. Cavan) were put through their paces in all three distances. The Wolfhounds were drawn in back-to-back heats in the 1500m heats. McAnuff came home sixth in Heat 7 with a time of 2:30.801, while O’Brien clinched 2nd place in Heat 8 in a time of 2:23.307 to earn himself a big Q and advance to the afternoon’s quarterfinals. O’Brien lined up in Heat 7 which turned into a pacey affair and he ultimately finished fifth in a time of 2:20.392.

There was Irish interest right from the off in the 500m preliminaries with McAnuff in Heat 1. In a swift race, he crashed into the barriers, but managed to get up and cross the line in fifth. O’Brien contested Heat 7 and was fourth in a time of 43.042.

Last up were the 1000m preliminaries and as with the 500m McAnuff found himself in Heat 1. He closed out his account for the qualifiers with a fourth place and a time of 1:30.222. O’Brien showed up in Heat 3 and came fifth with a time of 1:32.221.

O’Brien was the sole Irish Wolfhound to race in the 1500m and 500m repechages on the second day of the event. In Heat 1 of the 1500m repechage quarterfinals, he posted a time of 2:20.769 to come fourth. It was then on to the 500m repechage quarterfinals for O’Brien. He was right in the mix in Heat 6 for most of the race, but just did not quite have enough at the end and had to settle for fourth in a time of 42.972.

“I’m happy with my racing over the last two weeks,” O’Brien said. “It’s been a week of racing with injury, but I am confident I can bounce back before the Asian leg of the World Tour events. I know I need to improve my strength and endurance if I want to be able to compete with the top and will continue to build on that through the remainder of the season.”

McAnuff was back on the last day of competition for the 1000m repechages. In the repechage quarterfinal Heat 7, he raced positively to secure fourth place with a time of 1:29.251.

“The first two World Tour events were very exciting,” McAnuff said. “I was able to skate competitively in the racing pool and I see the areas that need more focus and improvement. I wasn’t able to break any personal best times, but I do see this on the horizon for me. I will be working very hard over the next weeks in preparation for the next World Tour events!”

The ISU Short Track World Tour moves on to Asia next month with stops in Beijing, China (6-8 December) and Seoul, South Korea (13-15 December).